


Cold Snap

by kawree



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-02
Updated: 2013-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-23 08:32:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/620132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawree/pseuds/kawree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frustrated that he never seems to get credit for his work, Jack decides to spend Christmas Eve where no one will be expecting him, and discovers that maybe being unexpected makes all the difference.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cold Snap

Jack had never really liked "bitter cold" as a turn of phrase, probably because it reminded him just how much people preferred warm weather. Oh, sure, kids loved a snow day, but nobody ever _wished_ for wintertime; no one pined for sub-zero temperatures the way they longed for the warm nights of summer or balmy spring afternoons. The song was called _In The **Bleak** Midwinter_ for a reason, after all, and... well, Jack Frost was a teensy bit _bitter_ about it. 

Somehow Christmas was always the part of the year he was most bitter about. He was really starting to think he was doing something wrong. All these years--nearly 300 of them--and he had yet to be seen by a single child. Kids dreamed of snow days to extend winter break, and everyone wanted that White Christmas that greeting cards always showed, but Jack never seemed to get any credit for his work. Every time he decided to give someone a White Christmas, _North_ seemed to get the thanks for it. It was always a Christmas miracle, never because of _Jack Frost_.

And frankly, Jack Frost was getting really sick and tired of being overlooked all the time.

That did it-- _nobody_ was getting a White Christmas this year. _Nobody_! He was going to go spend Christmas in Australia, where no one would be expecting snow, and no one would be singing about White Christmases and wondering why _Santa Claus_ didn't come through for them. Besides, he owed Bunnymund a hard time--it had been too long.

Australia really was an interesting place, besides--Jack had never quite gotten the hang of deciphering the vernacular (he really wasn't sure he even _wanted_ to know what 'spotted dick' was; he was pretty sure that was grounds to go see a doctor), but while his travels to the land down under had been few and far between, he always found himself wondering why he didn't visit more often. He told himself it was because it was literally about as far away from home as he could get before he started coming back around the other side of the planet, but the truth was distance didn't really matter much when you could ride the wind.

Contrary to popular belief, cold didn't follow Jack everywhere he went, and he _did_ actually have to think about it to really freeze things. There was a necessary deliberateness to his actions, otherwise there would be black ice and frosted windows everywhere in his wake, and while that certainly would have flown during the winter, summers in Pennsylvania were notoriously hot.

Nothing like summers in Australia, though. Jack was more comfortable in the cold than in the heat, of course, but being a winter spirit didn't mean he couldn't handle a little warm weather. It was a good thing, too--he had learned to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius at least a century and a half ago, but one blast of that 39-degree air and he knew it was over a hundred.

It was a little strange to see people wearing shorts in December--he would never get used to the Southern Hemisphere--but though there were Christmas decorations as far as the eye could see, it was a bit refreshing to see a lack of snowmen and mittens. At least no one here would be whining about snow.

By the end of the day, the absence of that White Christmas pressure put Jack in such a good mood that he didn't even feel the need to seek out Bunnymund for a good row. Maybe he would even surprise North by slicking a roof or two--the old man was undoubtedly already on his way. Funny the way time flew even more quickly when you could traverse half the planet in a breath. The sun didn't set until after 8pm that night; it was still so odd to him that Christmas was in the summer on this side of the world. As the horizon darkened and the streetlights blinked on, Jack perched on a rooftop and let the tepid breeze tug at his hair. Even in the heat of summer his hands and feet were cold: it came with being what he was, after all. But after spending all day in the sun he was feeling a bit wiped. Maybe it was time for a brief stop in the frozen foods section of a grocery store--that'd perk him right up.

"No shoes no service? No worries--I'll help myself." 

Jack snorted a laugh as he strolled through the automatic doors of the supermarket, sighing as the air conditioned air blasted him in the face. Yes, this was just what he needed. He would head back to his neck of the woods in the morning and no one would be singing about White Christmases _this_ year.

"But Mum you _promised_!"

Jack turned when an unhappy voice broke through his smug musings, and he watched as a young girl huffed angrily and folded her arms. Uh oh, what was this? Someone was throwing a tantrum on Christmas Eve? Tsk tsk, that was a good way to get on the naughty list at the last moment.

"Honey, I'm sorry," the girl's mother replied, tugging open the freezer section door and pulling out a bag of mixed vegetables to toss into the grocery cart, "but we just can't do it this year. They've cut my hours at work again, and you know I get paid time and a half to work the holiday."

The girl sighed dejectedly. "I know," she said, shaking her head, "but... I really wanted to see the snow. The forecast said it was gonna snow for New Years..."

Jack frowned. Where was she expecting to see snow this time of year?

"Maybe we can go see your gram in New York _next_ New Years," the girl's mother said then, pushing the cart to the end of the aisle and pausing to contemplate whether or not she really needed the laundry detergent that was on sale. "Maybe she'll record the snow on her webcam for you."

"It isn't the same," the girl said sadly. "I know we'll never get a White Christmas or New Years here in Sydney, but I've _never_ seen snow."

"I know, honey," her mother said tiredly, "and I really am sorry. It's just not in the cards this year."

And with that, the woman put the laundry detergent in the cart and headed down the next aisle, leaving her daughter to stand in front of the case of frozen vegetables alone. The girl exhaled audibly and stared at her reflection in the glass, tucking her long blond hair behind one ear before pressing her palm against the case door.

"That's what you said last year, too... I didn't even _bother_ asking Santa to let me see snow for Christmas this year."

Jack rubbed his chin. Even if he was kind of bitter about the whole season, even if he had a bit of a bone to pick with all those kids who thought _Santa_ was the one who made it snow on Christmas, Jack wasn't without empathy. He hated to see kids sad, he really did; it was no fun when kids were sad. He might have been a bit frustrated with his lot in life, but maybe he could make an exception to his No White Christmases rule after all.

Hopping up to the top of the freezer case to make sure the girl was the only one in the aisle (the store was closing soon, and there were very few shoppers about on Christmas Eve anyway), Jack grinned. Sitting down with his feet dangling over the edge of the door, he pressed his palm against the glass.

"Don't say I never did nothin' for ya, kid..."

The drop in temperature wasn't really noticeable at first; it was the frozen section, which worked in his favor. He really did love the look a child got in their eye when it started to snow: the wonder and awe always made him smile, and he got the best reactions when it was unexpected. Frost curled down the glass, etching swirling patterns from his fingertips, whorling down toward the floor. The girl's eyes widened and she inhaled softly, yanking her hand away from the freezer door as the frost made her breath fog in the air.

"M... Mum?" she said softly, turning over her shoulder, but her mother was two aisles away now, pondering over what brand of granola to buy for breakfast. The girl's eyes swung back to the glass and she reached out to touch it again, then giggled when her fingers melted the frost in the shape of a palmprint. "It's _almost_ like snow..." she said, and Jack blew a raspberry.

"Fine, I can see I'm gonna have to pull out all the stops to impress you," he said, and got to his feet. Stepping off the freezer case and hovering in the air above the aisle, he swirled his staff above her and reveled in her laughter.

That night, the little girl dreamed of snow, and Jack made sure to pause by her window long enough to watch the golden sand paint a winter wonderland over her head on her pillow. She hadn't seen him, even when she'd looked above her to watch the snowflakes falling inexplicably in that grocery aisle, but she had appreciated his efforts, and maybe that was enough. He was probably going to hear about this from someone later--whoever heard of a White Christmas in Australia, and in the grocery store, for that matter?--but Jack was feeling pretty good about it anyway.

Maybe a little unseasonable cold snap was all it took to take the bitterness out of the Frost after all.

**Author's Note:**

> this was a little gift fic for [Villain](http://enyoung.tumblr.com/) on a Tumblr exchange. figured i might as well share it here too, even tho it's a smidge late now. :D


End file.
